In 2013, following a 4-12 season, the Philadelphia Eagles parted ways with longtime head coach Andy Reid. Not long after Reid’s departure Philly made then Oregon Ducks head coach Chip Kelly their new head coach. Kelly, who burst on the scene at Oregon because of his highly efficient breakneck spread offense, was thought to be the perfect coach for the speedy and supremely talented Eagles roster. Kelly’s hiring also brought along some changes in the team’s front office. While general manager Howie Roseman still had control over the draft and free agent signings, Kelly was given final roster autonomy, and boy did he take full advantage of that.
Despite back-to-back 10-6 seasons which saw the Eagles win the division in 2013 but miss the playoffs in 2014, things in Philly began to fall apart and Kelly was let go after going 6-9 in 2015. A lot of it stemmed from Kelly’s decision to move on from some of the team’s best players. One of those players Kelly got rid of was speedy wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who will go down as one of the best deep threats to ever play the game.
Jackson Has No Love For Kelly
During a recent interview, Jackson who’s let his feelings for Kelly be known on numerous occasions, added fuel to the fire so to speak this time around. When asked about his Eagles tenure, Jackson couldn’t help but lay into Kelly.
“I don’t respect Chip Kelly,” Jackson said. “What he did, you can ask any Eagles fan ever, and they’ll tell you the same thing,” Jackson said of Kelly, who’s currently the head coach at UCLA. “He dismantled our team. There’s no way you get rid of DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy, Mike Vick and Jeremy Maclin. We were Philadelphia.”
Kelly got rid of Jackson after his first seasom, 2013, despite Jackson posting 82 receptions for 1,332 yards and nine touchdowns. Jackson said Kelly cut him because of some so-called “gang connections.”
Jackson quickly moved on to join Philly’s division rival Washington, and he says he did so intentionally as a way to get back at Kelly by facing him twice a year. In five matchups against Kelly and the Eagles following his release, Jackson posted 24 receptions for 569 yards and three touchdowns. And even more important was his team went 4-1 in those matchups.
Kelly Lost The Locker Room In 2015
Kelly’s tenure as Eagles head coach ended with one game left in the 2015 season. At the time it was reported that Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie wanted to scale back Kelly’s control over the team’s personnel. That wasn’t something Kelly was willing to do, so Lurie decided to move on from him. Lurie cited the loss of the locker room and team culture as reasons to why he made the move.
In the end it was a great move, because it netted the franchise Doug Pederson, who led the team to its only Super Bowl during the 2017-18 season.
